Sad news has come in as it’s been reported thatSons of AnarchystarWilliam Luckinghas passed away. The news was announced by the actor’s wife on Thursday, and an obituary states that he died on Oct. 18 at his home in Las Vegas. A cause of death wasn’t revealed. Lucking was 80 years old.
“Although William often played toughs and strongmen, in his actual life he was an elegant man with a brilliant intellect who loved to argue about politics and current affairs, discuss philosophy and physics, and assert fine-pointed opinions about art and poetry,” Lucking’s wife wrote in his obituary. “He was a giant of a man with the soul of a poet, one who ‘contained…a tension of sorts within his being…like a boulder teetering on a hill…or a balloon expanding towards its extreme,’ as one friend put it.”
Sons of Anarchycreator Kurt Sutter has also addressed the news. Taking to Instagram, Sutter shared an image from the original pilot’s character list, highlighting Piney Winston. In the caption, Sutter says, “From the original pilot. Thank you Bill for filling those boots.” He also includes the hashtags #foreversamcrow, #higherrides, and #soa.
William Lucking was born in 1941 in Michigan before relocating to California with his family in the 1950s. He graduated from UCLA with a degree in literature before studying theatre arts at the Pasadena Playhouse. With a penchant for performing, Lucking had started getting roles in various movies and TV shows in the 60s and 70s, launching a career that would span several decades in show business.
He had many, many roles over the course of several decades, but perhaps Lucking is best known for hisrole as Piney Winstonin the hit seriesSons of Anarchy. The actor had previously appeared as Col. Lynch in the popular 1980s seriesThe A-Team, with some of his other small screen credits includingOutlaws,The Partridge Family,Bonanza,Kung Fu,Gunsmoke,The Waltons,The Incredible Hulk,The Greatest American Hero,Murder, She Wrote,The X Files,The West Wing, and theStar TrekshowsDeep Space NineandEnterprise.
On the big screen, William Lucking had notable roles inOklahoma Crude,The Magnificent Seven Ride!,The Return of a Man Called Horse, andThe Rundown. He’s also appeared in movies likeStripes,Ladykillers,Erin Brockovich,Red Dragon,The World’s Fastest Indian, andSlipstream. He closed out his run as an actor with recurring roles on the showsSwitched at BirthandMurder in the FirstwithContrabandserving as his last movie.
Lucking is survived by his wife of 25 years, Sigrid Insull Lucking, with whom he “shared many find adventures,” per his obituary. The actor’s survivors also include his two daughters, Marjet Lucking and Juliana Ryan, along with Juliana’s husband and two daughters, Quinland and Lilian. He is preceded in death by his first wife, Mimi, the mother of his two children who died of cancer in 1996. Our thoughts go out to the Lucking family at this painful time.Rest in peace, William Lucking. This news comes to us fromDeadline.
